Every Monday we show you how to do something quick and cool using with Mac OS X. Sometimes it's a tutorial on a lesser-known feature, other times it's a trick that uses built-in functionality such as Terminal — either way, these simple tips can make life better and easier, and they don’t require any special knowledge. All you need to do is follow the instructions!

Have you ever switched viewing modes in the Finder, hoping that it would apply to all new windows, but it doesn't? We can change that easily with a little Terminal hack to ensure that the Column view layout (or any other layout) is always used when a new Finder window is opened. Continue reading to find out more and learn how to make this hack work.

Got an Apple, Mac, or iOS tech question? We've got the answer. In this week's Ask, we'll show you how to further customize your Mac's desktop background by modifing the contents of the Desktop Pictures folder.

Many of us are becoming more and more concerned about having our online activities tracked. Some of us want to avoid a barrage of constant marketers and spam, while others want to dodge overzealous content blocking from their Internet service provider. Generally, though, most of us simply want to use the Internet as we please without our browsing being snooped on and logged by the authorities. Here’s how you can temporarily surf in secret in Safari, and how to use the Tor network and the Onion web browser to surf stealthily all the time.

Every Monday we show you how to do something quick and cool using with Mac OS X. Sometimes it's a tutorial on a lesser-known feature, other times it's a trick that uses built-in functionality such as Terminal — either way, these simple tips can make life better and easier, and they don’t require any special knowledge. All you need to do is follow the instructions!

There's a new feature in OS X Yosemite that we bet you haven't heard of yet: Batch renaming in the Finder. It's hidden, it's cool, and yes, it can replace even the best batch file renaming tools available on the Mac. From a simple replace to a more sophisticated renaming convention, the Finder has you covered in its latest iteration. Continue reading to learn more about this new feature and how to use it.

If you use your Mac for word processing, creating and editing spreadsheets, or putting the finishing touches to a slideshow presentation, you need a suite of office applications with the right tools. The Microsoft Office suite is near ubiquitous, but we’ve been waiting for an update to the Mac version since 2011, and it’s still relatively expensive. While iWork is now free, it lacks some of the features that come with other office suites. LibreOffice, however, is not only completely free, but it’s constantly updated with improvements and new features.

If you’ve used any reasonably recent Apple gear along with iCloud, you’ll know how valuable and convenient cloud-based data syncing can be. Instead of manually copying contacts and calendar appointments to individual devices, for example, everything’s up to date within seconds of you opening the relevant app. The main problem with iCloud is that it’s not (yet) universal. Many apps and games lack any kind of cloud sync at all. There are, however, ways around this.

Every Monday we show you how to do something quick and cool using with Mac OS X. Sometimes it's a tutorial on a lesser-known feature, other times it's a trick that uses built-in functionality such as Terminal — either way, these simple tips can make life better and easier, and they don’t require any special knowledge. All you need to do is follow the instructions!

Ever had to sign documents quickly and return them to a sender? No matter the type of document that you're trying to sign, if you can avoid the print, sign, scan, and send workflow, it's always appreciated. Mac OS X's Preview application has long allowed for digital signatures, and now in Yosemite you can sign your documents using the trackpad, too. Continue reading, and we'll show you how this feature works, and how you can put it to use to sign your PDFs in the future.